Sajid Nadiadwala conferred "Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters"

Maverick producer-director Sajid Nadiadwala conferred with French distinction “Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters” in recognition of his contribution to boosting Indo-French partnership in cinema.

Mumbai, 20 September 2016

H.E. Mr Alexandre Ziegler, Ambassador of France to India, conferred the French Government honour “Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres” (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) on popular Indian film producer and director Sajid Nadiadwala. This award comes in recognition of his contribution to boosting Indo-French partnership in cinema. The event took place on tuesday, 20th September 2016 in Mumbai.

Sajid Nadiadwala

Sajid Nadiadwala is a name synonymous worldwide with the vitality of the Hindi film industry. Hailing from a family of stalwarts like Abdul Karim Nadiadwala, Farruk Nadiadwala, Habib Nadiadwala and his own father Suleman Nadiadwala, who have produced between them over 200 films since as early as 1955, it now seems natural that Sajid himself display a flair for filmmaking very early on in his life.

Sajid firmly believed that no textbooks or insights passed on from a secondary source could equal knowledge and acumen gained through a hands-on-experience of filmmaking. Thus, he chose to enter the arena of cinema as a production assistant soon after his graduation, and diligently worked his way up the ladder of the family-run production house. Soon, aided by the experience gained first hand and backed by the wisdom of his family of filmmakers, Sajid became a force to reckon with in Bollywood.

In 1990, he took over the family run production house and spearheaded the company into an era of unprecedented success under the banner “Nadiadwala Grandson”. One of the Indian film industry’s top producers, he is well-known for his extremely high production values.

“Tamasha”, his latest film shot extensively in breathtaking locales of Corsica, France, became the first Indian production to benefit from France’s very attractive film production incentive, TRIP (Tax Rebate for International Production), granted through the French Film Commission. TRIP supports non-French projects that are completely or partly made in France, involving European cultural elements in the story as well as French and European locations, characters, sources, landmarks, creators, crew and French technical hubs. The amount allocated comprises 30% of the film expenditure incurred in France.For more information on TRIP: http://www.filmfrance.net/v2/gb/home.cfm?choixmenu=taxrebate

Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters)

Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters), a French government distinction, is conferred on “persons who have distinguished themselves by their creativity in the field of art, culture and literature or for their contribution to the influence of arts in France and throughout the world.” Some noted Indian recipients of this honour in the past include the late Sivaji Ganesan, Lata Mangeshkar, Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Raghu Rai, Ebrahim Alkazi, the late Habib Tanveer, Upamanyu Chatterjee, Shaji N. Karun and Subodh Gupta.

Sajid Nadiadwala has also been honoured by Australia, Italy, Sydney, UK and Abu Dhabi.